The NL Central rival Cubs and Reds continue their

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Chicago Cubs left-hander Jose Quintana did not want to be leave the game his last time out , but he did. Cincinnati Reds right-hander Luis Castillo does not want the ball to keep leaving the ballpark against him, but it does.

Great American Ball Park with an interesting matchup of two pitchers who have done well against their Friday night opponent yet are struggling of late.

Quintana (6-5) was nearly flawless his last time out against the Reds, limiting them to a Scott Schebler single over seven innings while striking out seven and walking four during a 10-0 victory in the second game of a May 19 doubleheader.

In the first game of that doubleheader, Castillo (4-8) didn’t get the decision as the Reds won 5-4 in 11 innings, but he held the Cubs to one run on six hits despite walking six in five innings. He is 0-0 in two career starts against Chicago with an impressive 0.82 ERA while limiting them to eight hits over 11 innings.

Similarly, Quintana is very good against the Reds, going 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA while striking out 16 in 16 2-3 innings over three career starts. He could use another good start Friday, as the Reds ran their winning streak to four games they’ve won seven of nine by overcoming a two-run deficit to beat Chicago 6-2 on Thursday night.

That’s what’s good for the two starting pitchers. Here’s what’s bad.

Quintana is winless in his last three starts, and he was lifted Sunday from a scoreless game against the Cardinals after two runners reached in the sixth. They came around to score against the Cubs bullpen, and Quintana ended up taking the loss as St. Louis went on to win 5-0.

“All the time, I wanted to keep going,” said Quintana, who was removed after throwing 86 pitches. “I feel like I pitched really good. It’s a tough game, zero-zero.”

Most of the Reds’ top batters struggle against Quintana

Eugenio Suarez is 1-for-9 (.111), Scooter Gennett is 1-for-8 (.125) and Joey Votto is 2-for-8 (.250).

Castillo also hasn’t been able to win lately, losing his last four starts while giving up an alarming six home runs and 16 earned runs over 20 2-3 innings. His velocity is down from his rookie season a year ago, and his ERA is way up from 3.12 to 5.77.

Too many of his pitches have been going up and out of the ballpark and he leads the NL with 17 homers allowed while going winless since May 24.

In his last start Saturday, a 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Castillo gave up two homers among his six hits allowed over five innings, one of them on a 93-mph fastball to Elias Diaz. A year ago, Castillo often touched 100 mph with a four-seam fastball that averaged 97.4 mph.

“I’m trying to do my best,” Castillo said through an interpreter. “Every time I go out there, I give up like one or two home runs. I really don’t know what’s happening right now. I’m just going to keep working down in the bullpen (between starts).”

Castillo’s slump , and his apparent velocity drop, are concerning to the Reds because he was 3-0 in his previous four starts before beginning his slide.

Castillo’s low ERA against the Cubs is reflected in some of their top hitters lack of success against him. Javier Baez is 0-for-5 (.000) and Anthony Rizzo is 1-for-6 (.167).?

The Cubs didn’t do much offensively Thursday, either, as right-hander Matt Harvey (2-5) made the best of his eight starts with the Reds, holding Chicago to two runs and five hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked only one.

“He was really good. He just shut them down,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “He’s getting better and better.”

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (5-7) breezed through the first five innings without giving up a run but was lifted after walking Suarez with the bases loaded to force in a run. Left-handed reliever Randy Rosario promptly gave up the first career grand slam by the left-handed hitting Jesse Winker, and the Reds added one more run in the inning.

“Some really great at-bats in the inning,” Riggleman said. “And the big hit speaks for itself.”

The loss dropped the Cubs one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.

John DeFilippo stood on top of a double-decker bus with the rest of the Eagles, as they cruised through raucous downtown Philadelphia on Thursday to celebrate the franchise’s first championship in 57 years.

Hours later, the Minnesota Vikings handed him the keys to their offense.

DeFilippo has had quite the ride in two seasons as quarterbacks coach for the Eagles.

”How many guys can say they participated in a Super Bowl parade in the morning and became one of 32 play-callers in the National Football League that night? That’s a pretty good deal,” DeFilippo said. ”It was a whirlwind, but it was a whirlwind that was 100 percent worth it, professionally and personally.”

The Vikings finalized their hire of DeFilippo as offensive coordinator on Friday, following Pat Shurmur’s departure to become head coach of the New York Giants. The 39-year-old DeFilippo is the third offensive coordinator Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has had in five seasons on the job.

”He has a track record of success and has proven to be a great teacher. We feel John will have good chemistry with our team, and we are all eager to get to work,” Zimmer said in a statement.

Just five days earlier, the Eagles beat New England 41-33 in the Super Bowl in Minnesota behind an MVP performance by Nick Foles . With guidance from DeFilippo, offensive coordinator Frank Reich and head coach Doug Pederson, Foles found a rhythm in the playoffs after an initially rocky takeover for the injured Carson Wentz. In those three games, including a 38-7 victory over the Vikings in the NFC championship game, Foles threw for 971 yards, six touchdowns and only one interception for a 115.7 passer rating. Against the Patriots, Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns and even caught a pass for a score on a trick play.

”We really sat down and spent some time with Nick and what he felt comfortable doing , and to me, that’s coaching,” DeFilippo said. ”Why would you ask a player to do something that he’s not comfortable with?”

He’ll apply that same approach to the Vikings.

”If they did something really, really well and their players are good at it, there’s no reason to change it,” DeFilippo said. ”So we’re going to take pieces from other places I’ve been, take pieces from Philadelphia and at the same time, obviously there are a lot of good things that the Minnesota Vikings did last year that we’re going to continue to do.”

Now he’ll work with Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman to sort out the quarterback situation, with contracts for Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater all currently scheduled to expire next month.

”I’m going to have as much say as they want me to. I’m a team player,” DeFilippo said on a conference call with reporters. ”We talked about it last night: It has to be a collaborative effort, something that we all agree on.”

Character, decision-making, timing, accuracy and leadership were the attributes DeFilippo emphasized, in that order, when describing his priorities for the sport’s most critical position. When asked about the importance of athleticism, DeFilippo tacked that trait on to the list, too.

”I’m not a big believer in quarterbacks that are a stick in the mud back there, they’re in cement back there, at 7 yards deep,” he said.

Wentz was an NFL MVP award contender with 33 touchdown passes in 13 games in his second season in the league in 2017, until tearing the ACL in his left knee. With DeFilippo as the offensive coordinator for Cleveland in 2015 , the Browns gained more than 4,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards in the same season for the first time since 1986.

DeFilippo also has five years as quarterbacks coach for Oakland on his resume over two different stints, including in 2014 when Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw only 12 interceptions, the fewest by a first-year player in NFL history with at least 450 passing attempts.

DeFilippo, who was a four-year letter-winner as a quarterback for James Madison, has taken his 11th job in what will be a 19th season of coaching.

”He’s a grinder,” Foles said the day after the Super Bowl. ”Barely sleeps. Just fundamentals, giving us the game plan, giving us all our checks, extremely detailed.”

Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski, who interviewed with Zimmer for the promotion, becomes a strong candidate to join Shurmur with the Giants as the offensive coordinator there. Former Seattle Seahawks and Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was also considered along with Houston Texans quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan and New Orleans Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell, according to various reports.

DeFilippo rose to the top of the list, though, having also been considered by the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts for their head coach vacancies.

”His energy was great,” said Vikings running back Latavius Murray, who was with the Raiders in 2013-14 with DeFilippo. ”Positive, very positive, liked to have fun. He was passionate.”

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